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Chris McManes IEEE-USA Recommends Electric Grid Investment, Cooperation and Coordination to Improve Reliability WASHINGTON (24 September 2003) — To help prevent a recurrence of last month’s devastating power blackout in the United States and Canada, the U.S. government and the electric industry should increase investment in our nation’s electric grid, improve its communications’ capabilities and provide for consistency of operating rules, the IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee recommended to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a written statement on 29 August. According to the IEEE-USA committee, grid investment may require the construction of additional power lines and generating plants, while also looking to new technology and innovation to improve system reliability. Grid cooperation includes making reliability incentives compatible with economic incentives. Plant operators’ authority and communications facilities must be sufficient enough to deal with reliability concerns in a timely manner. According to the committee, grid coordination requires consistent operating rules and protocols that transcend state and utility boundaries. IEEE-USA recommends that the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) collaborate to establish rules and procedures that ensure system-wide electricity reliability. IEEE-USA supports legislation (H.R. 6) empowering FERC to create an Electric Reliability Organization that gives NERC the legislative authority to assure the reliability of the complete North American electric system, including elements in Canada and Mexico. IEEE-USA’s statement came in the form of responses to questions posed by the House committee, which is chaired by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.). For the entire document, go to www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/2003/082903.html. IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., created in 1973 to advance the public good, while promoting the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org.
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September 2003 |